Mr Parkes, aged 80, of Sutton Coldfield, lost £10,000 and has been fighting for compensation for nearly two years, but has seen his claim for compensation rejected four times by the FSCS.

Now hopes have been raised that Mr Shackleford’s victory could open the floodgates for other successful claimants who lost up to £80,000 when Hexley’s Greenfield International property company collapsed in October 2010.

More than 230 creditors, many of them elderly, were stripped of thousands of pounds of their savings with the demise of Greenfield – and many had given up the fight for compensation after being rejected by the FSCS.

But in a letter to Bryan Parkes, MP Mr Mitchell said: “The Director of Operations has informed me that in view of recent legal developments the FSCS are reconsidering their position in relation to comparable claims and are currently revisiting claims that relate to Gary Hexley’s involvement with Greenfield International.”

And in a subsequent letter to Mr Parkes, the Cabinet Minister said: “I have asked the FSCS to review your case for compensation for financial loss. I will come back to you again as soon as the FSCS has assessed your claim but hope that there will be a positive outcome.”

So far only a handful of the 237 creditors have won claims for compensation. Hexley was made bankrupt in May 2010 with liabilities of nearly £1 million and was subsequently banned as a financial adviser.

He was arrested in November last year and inquiries by the Financial Services Authority continue, whilst the Insolvency Service are also investigating the saga.

Mr Parkes said: “My wife and I invested £10,000 with Gary Hexley and were told it was increasing at 10 per cent a year, which was all poppycock.

“When it became evident that things were not going well with Gary, we were advised to put a claim in by the FSCS. We sent in the claim and had it turned down four times.”

Fellow Sutton Coldfield claimant Pat Madden, who is owed £21,000 and was rejected by the FSCS in March, said: “I hope that everybody who lost out now gets their money back. They all should do so.”